Bren Giving $20M for Arts, Sciences Education
Irvine schools are getting $20 million for arts and sciences in a gift by Donald Bren.
Bren, chairman and owner of The Irvine Company, gave the money to hire more teachers specializing in arts, music and science.
Students in grades four through six are set to benefit from the money during the next decade.
“A well-rounded education that prepares students to succeed and fully enjoy and appreciate life includes art, music and science,” Bren said.
Bren announced the donation at Irvine’s Alderwood Basics Plus school. The gift nearly tripled the amount of funding for enrichment programs in the Irvine Unified School District.
Last year, Bren pledged $20 million to support the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust. In all, he’s given $50 million for a 50,000-acre land preserve that stretches from the hills to the Pacific Ocean.
In 2003, Bren gave $20 million to the University of California, Irvine’s computer school. He’s given $40 million to UC Irvine in all.
Bren and his foundation have pledged some $200 million to Irvine schools.
Lennar Homes in Aliso Viejo and its charity arm, Lennar Charitable Housing Foundation, gave a $1 million check to Girls & Boys Town of Santa Ana for a shelter it is building in Compton. The donation comes from Lennar and from fees that homebuyers pay to fund its foundation.
St. Joseph Hospital in Orange received nearly $1 million to fund a new postpartum depression program. The grant was given by Unihealth Foundation and will go toward the hospital’s program, “Caring for Women with Maternal Depression.” It also will allow St. Joseph to expand its current postpartum depression program.
The University of California, Irvine, received more than $674,000 in state funds from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for training students in basic biology, ethics, policy and clinical applications of stem cell research. The money is part of a $12.1 million gift to groups across the state.
The Orange County High School of the Arts’ annual gala raised $610,000 in support of the school’s arts education programs. The high school must raise more than $3 million each year to continue offering its arts program. Option One Mortgage and its parent, H & R; Block Inc., sponsored the gala.
The National MS Society, Pacific South Coast Chapter’s MS Walk in Irvine, sponsored by Southern California Gas Co., raised $637,281 to develop treatments for multiple sclerosis. Funds raised through the MS Walk were the most in its 19-year history. The money will fund research and services that help 18,000 people affected by multiple sclerosis in Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and Vanguard University in Costa Mesa received a $500,000 grant from UniHealth Foundation to develop and launch a nursing education program at the university’s Costa Mesa campus. The money will help fund the program’s first three years of inception.
The Southern California College of Optometry Clinics, based in Fullerton, received $350,000 in eyeglass frames from UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s vision company, Spectera. The donation will go to poor Southern California residents who need glasses.
The John R. Wooden Classic Benefit Dinner raised $250,000 to be split between Orangewood Children’s Foundation and Special Olympics Southern California. Costa Mesa-based ditech.com, a unit of GMAC Mortgage Corp., gave $50,000 of the donation.
The Lu & #233;vano Foundation celebrated 23 years of giving scholarships to Latino students wishing to attend Orange County Catholic schools. Last year Lu & #233;vano partnered with the Southern California Children’s Scholarship Fund to give $57,000 to 40 students. The foundation has given $85,000 to give more than 65 Lu & #233;vano Scholarship recipients since it was founded.
Staff at Children’s Hospital of Orange County participated in a pie-throwing event. The hospital’s staff agreed to have pies thrown at them by cancer patients for a $100,000 donation from Ralphs/Food 4 Less Foundation. The donation will be used to build one of three inpatient oncology rooms that are planned for a kids’ wing.
Newport Beach’s Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club raised $42,000 at its Second Annual “Cruise for a Cure” fund-raiser. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the yacht club hosted the event to raise funds and awareness to fight the diseases.
Newport Beach-based Valley Building Materials held its 10th Annual John Kolendich Memorial Charity Golf Tournament and auction. The event raised $35,000. Part of the money will go to HomeAid Orange County’s shelter development program.
TRG Land Inc. in Newport Beach raised more than $10,000 for Habitat for Humanity’s home rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The funds were raised at TRG’s Cajun Crawfish Boil.
Santa Ana’s Ace DuraFlo Pipe Restoration Inc. gave $100 to the Fallen Soldier Fund for each Southern California customer referral that resulted in a new contract for a complete potable water piping restoration.
Crevier BMW in Santa Ana gave $10,000 to the Orange County Human Relations Council to help fund the nonprofit’s programs. The Human Relations Council works to reduce prejudice, intolerance and discrimination.
Sixty Fieldstone Communities workers from the San Antonio office volunteered to help build a house for the TV show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Fieldstone is based in Newport Beach. The show aired on ABC last month.
Eighteen teens gave up their spring breaks to serve on a Hurricane Katrina mission team in Gautier, Miss. The teens represented several local high schools: Aliso Niguel High School, Fountain Valley High School, Huntington Beach High School, Segerstrom High School, Sage Hill School, Corona del Mar High School and Orange Coast College. The students are associated with Mesa Verde United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa.
